This invention relates generally to shielding devices and, more particularly, to a dental shield apparatus for shielding oral health providers from oral fluids, tooth particles, and blood that may be ejected at high velocities from a patient's mouth during dental procedures.
Modern dental devices operate at very high velocities and various types of waste particles may be ejected during a dental procedure. For example, some dental tools may operate at over five hundred thousand rotations per minute (rpm). As in the mechanical trades appropriate protective devices must be utilized when using these high rpm dental tools to prevent injury.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for shielding healthcare workers, including dental personnel. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing protective shielding devices are either ineffective to adequately shield a dental health provider or are not used as frequently as needed because they are not easily positionable where needed.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a dental shield apparatus that is substantially transparent, durable, and adjustable to virtually any position without significant effort. Further, it would be desirable to have a dental shield that may be attached to a dental chair and provides lighting options.